Vanguard Magazine

When the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) is mentioned to Canadians, only 26% say they have heard of it and 11% may have heard of it. This demonstrates that Canadians are largely uninformed about their intelligence agencies and their functions. www.vanguardcanada.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 29 BACK TO THE FUTURE and British neighbors. A 2021 report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) on public attitudes of itself shows that Canadians know relatively little about CSIS' functions as an intelligence service. When the Communications Security Es- tablishment (CSE) is mentioned to Cana- dians, only 26% say they have heard of it and 11% may have heard of it. This dem- onstrates that Canadians are largely unin- formed about their intelligence agencies and their functions. CSIS was created in 1984 to replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Security Service, which was accused at the time of having, among other things, an ag- gressive approach to intelligence by using illegal political espionage operations. The goal was to move security intelligence to a civilian – not a law enforcement – agency. The RCMP, however, retains its law en- forcement mandate in matters of national security. CSIS, on the other hand, has no police prerogative. Its mandate is to inves- tigate and report to government on ac- tivities that may constitute threats to the security of Canada, to take steps to reduce the threat, to provide security assessments on individuals requiring access to classified information, sensitive sites or on applicants for citizenship, permanent residence, refu- gee protection or other temporary visitors. It is also mandated to collect foreign in- telligence, on Canadian soil, at the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Minister of National Defence. The notion of foreign intelligence in Canada is not understood in geographic terms, but rather in terms of the nature of the intelligence. Thus, while CSIS has limited foreign intelligence collection ca- pabilities, it does have a presence abroad as part of its security intelligence mandate. Security intelligence relates to threats to the security of Canada as set out in Section 2 of the CSIS Act: espionage or sabotage directed against Canada or detrimental to its interests; foreign-influenced clandestine activities threatening Canada; terrorism in or from Canada; and covert and unlawful actions aimed at the violent overthrow of government or the undermining of an es- tablished system of government. Foreign intelligence is broader and is understood to be any intelligence about a foreign, i.e., non-Canadian, entity. While the distinc- tion may appear clear in the text, the re- ality is more ambiguous. First, according to Section 16, CSIS may collect foreign intelligence within Canada, provided that it is not directed at Canadian citizens or permanent residents and only at the re- quest of the departments of Foreign Af- fairs or Defence. Second, it is questionable to what extent CSIS can collect foreign intelligence under its Section 2 mandate to investigate threats to the security of Cana- da. However, if one thing is clear, it is that CSIS has limited capabilities in terms of foreign intelligence collection and foreign operations. The second primary intelligence agency is the CSE, the heir to the World War II signals intelligence intercept and crypt- analysis efforts. CSE's primary mandate is to protect the Government of Canada's information and computer systems, collect foreign signals intelligence, and conduct defensive and active cyber operations. As such, CSE is Canada's foreign intelligence service, although its mandate is limited to signals intelligence. However, CSE cannot intercept signals intelligence on Canadian territory or from Canadian citizens, ex- cept when assisting other agencies such as CSIS, the RCMP or the Canadian Armed Forces. Canada does have a foreign intelligence service, but it is limited to signals intel- ligence. This Canadian specificity leads some to propose the creation of a specifi- cally foreign human intelligence service in Canada, which would then fill the pre- sumed weakness of CSIS. For the Creation of a Foreign Human Intelligence Service What are the main arguments in favour of such an intelligence service? First, a foreign human intelligence service would provide Canada with information that would al- low it to make relevant decisions based on

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